Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting how good is zone 5 in iowa ?

Mliang, As far as which season is best, I love to hunt the first 2 weeks of Nov for a bit of pre rut and the chasing faze of the rut. My very fist night in Iowa I saw a 14 point breed A doe. I rattled in and killed A 150" 8 point. some of the deer I have seen are just amazing!

If a person has a good spot lined out that either a friend or outfitter has scouted, the tag is worth the $. I wouldn't risk that kind of dough on the chance that I could find a good spot at the beginning of the trip.

I'm sitting on 3 or 4 points (don't remember), but I don't know if I will ever cut loose of the ridiculous tag fee money. I'm hoping for an invite at a great spot first.

Sounds like you have a good deal lined up, splatter. I'd agree with buying your point this year and go get your home state wapiti. You probably wouldn't draw the Iowa tag this year any way with no points.

A group of us hunted with IMB Outfitters in Promise City in late season muzzleloader, late December 2008. Three guys out of 6 of us scored on bucks, one was a 149" 8 point, one was a young 130" 8 point, and the other drew a fine for being too small...

Pretty good country, just for the money I half expected our outfitter to know which crop fields were getting hit by the deer and where/when they were moving. Instead they used us as informal guides by counting the number of deer we saw each day...

I'd go there again, just not for $2,500, plus over $500 for tags. Heck, having to spend that extra $100 made me shoot a nice fat doe since I didn't see any shooter bucks that trip. Great eating...

Hunteria,
It might be Adel. It's supposedly has some good deer on it. I just don't know which season I want to go with. I do want to do muzzleloader my first year. (Maybe bow the next time.) The problem with the early season is that is about when we get back from duck hunting. I'm just not sure I want to freeze myself for the second muzzleloader season.

I prefer the first season. The locals love to drive. It'll put deer in some pretty rough places the second season. 200 acres isn't much land to hunt in that country, though.

Not to be rude Kimber7man, but dont base your Iowa experience with IMB outfitters as how it is. IMB, imo is one of the worst outfitters there is. Check out the reviews on bowsite.com as well as huntinfo.com, and there are a couple of other sites. I also have hunted with imb outfitters several years ago and would never advise anyone to do so. You guys did well to actually kill a deer with those guys, even in Iowa!

i am going to get the p.p. this year. since i don't want to run the risk of 2 tags in 2 different states at the same time.

the guys i know have farms, and hunt them as well as the neighbors and friends farms.
the say they do drives, and post the shooters.
close shooting is the word.

mliang-
If you're going for the ML season, be darn sure you're hunting an area with whitetail friendly food on it or be adjacent to neighboring crops. They move a heck of a lot less during this time and folks aren't chasing them around (drives and simple hunting pressure) like during the shotgun season.

Second what SKane wrote. Our guys scored on the bucks in the morning as they were coming off a picked corn field. Of course, our guide didn't know if the fields were crop or alfalfa. But he was a nice kid...

Many times, farmers are still shelling corn during the first season. You should see what runs out on the last couple of turns in a field that has any adjacent CRP. About 5 years ago, I had a buddy wait on a combine as it made its last turn and he killed a very nice buck as it ran out into CRP.

I was also thinking of doing first shotgun but using my muzzleloader. I know until the corn is harvested it's pretty useless to hunt because the deer moves so little. For open flat country there sure are a lot of places for the deer to hide.

The "farm" has several food plot, woods, and a creek running through it. He doesn't do any drives or let anyone drive. It pisses off the locals a little but he hunts how he wants. Especially when the deer are running on his property because of all the pressure. He's done pretty well every year so far but nothing spectacular.

hmmmm, ive got a handmade .58 caliber m/l i haven't used in a looong time.
maybe i should skip the shotgun idea and bring old thumper out to play !

Well, may I suggest you bring two guns? Your .58 and something with a bit more reach? You may find yourself a bit range limited with your .58. It would be a scream to use it on one of the big does (of which you'll have a tag). But these tags are tough to come by and you seriously have a good chance at a once in a lifetime buck. Just my 2 pennies.

point taken.

being able to shoot more than once, quickly, is a very good thing.

Mark, if my opinion counts, if you have a hunting class handgun you're good with, bring that. I gave up on this shotgun thing two years ago and now hunt exclusively with my .357 Max Encore. We hunt the way your friend does, farms and deer drives. As long as I'm posted, I'm packing the pistol. I killed two this fall with it, one at 125 yds broadside, the other at 166 yds running quartering away (yeah, I know it sound unbelievable, I wish I had it on tape, and I don't have witnesses other than me and my rangefinder on the deer after it dropped in mid-leap!). Because I grew up in SD, shooting deer with shotguns just seems wrong, so I went with a pistol. In 8 years of hunting I've killed 13 deer, only one with a shotgun, the others all with either a .454 Casull or .357 Max on the Encore pistol platform.
Selmer

is a semi auto pistol legal ?
i have an iai javelina 10mm longslide !

I'll check quick,here it is, straight from the DNR Non-resident application pdf.

Legal Handguns � Centerfire handguns .357 caliber or larger, shooting straight wall ammunition with expanding-type bullet; and blackpowder handguns .44 caliber or larger shooting a single projectile. Minimum barrel length for all handguns is 4 inches. No shoulder stock or long barrel modifications are allowed.
Only the following centerfire cartridges may be used: .357 Magnum, .357 Maximum, .375 Winchester, .38 Super, .40 S&W, .401 Powermag, 10 mm Auto, .41 Remington Magnum, .41 Action Express, .44 S&W Special, .44 Remington Magnum, .44 Automag, .444 Marlin, .445 Super Mag, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .45 Super Mag, .45 Winchester Magnum, .45 Silhouette, .451 Detonics, .454 Casull, .45-70 Govt., .460 Rowland, .460 S&W Mag, .475 Widley Magnum, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express, .50 Linebaugh, .50 Beowulf and .500 S&W Magnum.
Hunters age 16 and under may not use any handguns. Hunters age 17 to 20 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or spouse who is at least 21 years old to use a handgun.

I wonder what is meant by "long barrel modifications"...I have a 15" .357 Max barrel with 2" permanent brake on it. I assume that's legal...

i see nothing saying revolver or auto.

so i assume my 10mm auto is legal.

Yep, you 10mm fits the bill cartridge-wise, it's in the list, and I looked up your Javelina long-slide, which has a barrel longer than 4", so you should be fine as long as you're using expanding bullets.